August is National Water Quality Month, a month where many will take a look at the quality of water they are drinking. Water is an essential part of life, but poor quality drinking water can be the source of many health-related issues, such as tuberculosis, salmonella and diarrhea. Fortunately, there are ways we can know the quality of our water.

One of the common ways to determine your water quality is the use of water test kits. The Complete Home Water Quality Test Kit, priced at under $40, is the best to use. This will test your water for over 13 contaminants including bacteria and copper. This kit includes two test strips for each contaminant and one test strip for bacteria.

Once you have tested your water for contaminants, how do you purify it? This is a task that may seem daunting, but the process doesn’t have to be.

One way to purify your water is through the use of UV lights. Disinfecting your drinking water with Ultraviolet lights is environmentally safe and proven to provide sterile drinking water. Ultraviolet filters use high frequency light to irradiate water through a glass element. Once the water is exposed to the light, all living organisms, such as bacteria, are destroyed. The Inline Ultraviolet Sterilization Filter connects directly onto your 1/4″ water line to provide sterile drinking water by killing 99.9% of viruses and bacteria. This UV filter has a flow rate of 1 gallon per minute.

The 3M Aqua-Pure Water Filter Replacement is one of the best whole house water filter cartridges available. This filter features high flow rates up to 20 gallons per minute and reduces the unpleasant taste and odor of chlorine as well as sediment and other impurities.

The Whirlpool 4396710 is the new and improved filter for Whirlpool side-by-side refrigerators. This Whirlpool Refrigerator Water Filter reduces unpleasant taste, odor, scale buildup and more in your water and ice. You should replace this filter every six months or if your water has a foul odor and taste. For a complete list of refrigerator water filters, go to Filtersfast.com and type in “refrigerator water filters” in the search box.

This August, let’s take the necessary steps to ensure better quality of water in our homes.